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The Only Two Things You Need To Capture The Best Wedding Pics*

No, it doesn’t include wedding filters. But, these two requisites pump up those pics to perfection.

There are a lot of elements that come into play when it comes to executing wedding shoots, from finding the right location for the prenup shoot, to making sure you look radiant (note: not stressed!) in your wedding pictures. Swish always wants to pump up your confidence for life-defining moments like your big day, so they talked to top wedding photographer Oly Ruiz to know what he does to get the best out of the couples he’s shot.

One look at Oly Ruiz’s work, and you know that it’s a major production. There’s a lot of drama and art that goes into what he does. Oly shares, “I’ve always wanted to be different. Throughout the years, my photos have become more refined, but still different. I fused elegance and uniqueness together.”

When couples approach him, it’s a common story that they say that they love his photos, but they don’t know if they can do it. “That’s understandable,” Oly says, “But all I’m asking for is their willingness. And the fact that I was approached by the couple, that shows that they’re willing.”

Being willing to do the shoot is different from having the confidence to go all out on it, though. It’s a good thing Oly has become a master in getting some of his couples to do what they thought they couldn’t do. Capturing a perfect photo largely depends the couple having these two crucial things:

Comfort. Oly says that even if they have the best location and all the elements click together, if the couple doesn’t look comfortable in the photos, it will ruin the shoot. The couple has to be prepped and ready, feeling and looking their best so that their comfort levels can aid in eliciting the best shots. Their breath should be fresh (a spritz of SWISH Breath Spray in between shots will work wonders!) for those extreme close ups, their stance comfortable, and their minds free of worry. When the couple feels comfortable, they’ll open up and be more willing to pose for the camera. “It’s about easing them into the shoot, and gauging the extent of the couple’s willingness. Like if I ask them to do something and they don’t want to, I ask them to do another thing until they look like they want to. The poses then progress to become harder and harder, but they didn’t notice because I eased them into it as slow as possible.” Taking it one step a time seems to be the secret to feeling comfortable in front of the camera.

Confidence. Through the years, Oly has learned what poses make the couple look good on camera, and when he shows the shots to the couples, it pumps up their confidence. It helps to get the bases covered, of course. Make sure hair and makeup are on point with a proper style team, get a stylist you trust, and have a shoot plan ready. Super pump up that confidence with readiness, so that when the camera is clicking, you’re only thinking about your partner and the emotions that should cut across to photographs. Oly adds, “The photos are proof that they look amazing, so I keep on encouraging that until it warms them up and make them want to do more.” There hasn’t been a couple that Oly has shot that didn’t come out looking like they were made to be in front of the camera, perhaps it also because Oly takes extra effort to ensuring the couples are comfy, and every couple knows that they’re getting a completely unique shoot from Oly. “Every couple has a signature shot where they can say, ‘That’s us, and we did that.’ It’s a challenge all the time, but it builds their confidence knowing that each shoot I do for them is different from the rest. It’s a win-win situation.”